Junior Madison McDaniel may have scored 31 points to lead Severn past host Mount de Sales on Jan. 30, but it wasn't her performance that made the night special.
McDaniel, who went over 1,000 points in her career earlier this season, was there in January of 2013 when the Sailors hosted the first Pink Out, for breast cancer awareness, and the 6-foot forward was honored to be invited back with her team for the annual event, now in its third year.
"I think it does (pump you up) because we did this two years ago, the first time they ever did this, and I think it is a really cool experience because they really incorporate us into it," McDaniel said. "They tell us about it weeks before so we can get the pink pre-wrap and all the pink stuff and they let us know there is going to be a bake sale, so it's really fun. I really like it."
The event was started in 2013 by former Mount de Sales player Katie Sauter, who lost her mom, Carol, to cancer on April 6, 2012, at age 47.
Katie is one of four children, along with Megan, Danny and Eric. They attended the game Friday -- a 62-51 loss to Severn -- with their dad, Mike.
Sailor freshman Madison Burris also put on a show, scoring 25 points, including a season-high seven three-pointers. Burris said she was pumped.
"It got me really rolling because it is for a good cause and stuff," she said.
After the game, Mike Sauter talked about the event that was started in honor of his wife, whom he said loved Ocean City, Christmas, Thanksgiving, red wine and making family and friends smile even through her battle with cancer.
"It's for a great cause and ever since it's happened it has made us more aware of the whole situation as far as breast cancer is concerned and the fact that it does affect more people than you realize," he said. "Once you go through something like this, it kind of opens your eyes to how many people it really affects."
The tradition continued last year with senior Eve Lukowski and junior Abby Zalucki helping to organize it.
Lukowski, who will play lacrosse for Bucknell University this spring, couldn't make it back to attend. "She sent a text that said I would give anything to be there," said Nancy Lukowski, the Sailors' junior varsity basketball coach.
The first year the Pink Out raised $2,000 and last year it reached $2,500 to benefit the St. Agnes Breast Cancer Center. The goal for this year's event, organized by Zalucki and Amanda Donovan, raised close to $2,400.
Money was raised through a bake sale, gift tree raffle and the Wall of Hearts, where folks touched by cancer buy a paper heart for a dollar to put on the wall at the end of the court.
There were signs reading 'Think Pink,' 'Shoot For a Cure' and 'Get Your Pink On' scattered around the arena.
The entrance to the gymnasium was adorned in pink balloons and Sailor players wore jerseys with pink lettering and pink socks.
The Mount de Sales cheerleaders wore T-shirts with the word Hope spelled with a pink ribbon representing the 'o' in Hope.
Severn players had pink scrunchies and some wore pink headbands.
Even though Severn coach Chuck Miller was trying to win a key Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference game and keep his team in second place in the X Division, he knew the significance of the night.
"They are going to feed off the crowd and they are going to come out fired up and we just have to play our game," he said. "It was really a great atmosphere."
The Sailors and Burris came out fired up as she made four three-pointers in the first quarter and they trailed by only one, 19-18.
But Mount de Sales made just one field goal in the second quarter and couldn't offset the scoring of McDaniel, who had 18 of her 31 points in the first half when the Admirals built a 34-20 lead.
"We come every year and it gets bigger and bigger," Mike Sauter said. "More and more people have become sympathetic to the whole situation and it's just a great thing. As long as they do it, I will come back."